Introduction

The Smithsonian is by far the largest museum complex in the world with iconic museums like the National Museum of Natural History, and even some lesser known ones like the National Postal Museum (yes that’s a thing). But what are the three best and why?

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American just has a special vibe to it. Unlike the rest of D.C. it’s quiet, calm, the garden outside of it is beautiful, and its stone and glass exterior looks modern yet rustic. On the inside there’s a plethora of great exhibits arranged in a tragic but truthful timeline from when white settlers decided to negotiate with the Native Americans, to when they just started killing them. The café has a great range of items made inhouse and the prices (except for the buffet) were relatively reasonable. to put it simply; the National Museum of the American Indian is, in my opinion, the best museum the Smithsonian has to offer.

National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar – Hazy Center

For how much the Smithsonian is thought of as just being a D.C. thing, the better of the two Air and Space museums is not the one in D.C. but the National Air and Space Museum at the Udvar-Hazy Center. I mean really why wait in that unreasonably long line in D.C. just for the main attraction to be a space suit because, cool, I guess Neil Armstrong wore it, but that doesn’t make it any cooler to look at it, and meanwhile at the Udvar-Hazy Center they have a whole Space Shuttle, the “Enola Gay”: a WWII B-29 Bomber that dropped the first first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, the “Concord”: a French supersonic commercial jet, a Black Bird spy plane, and more planes and artifacts from seemingly every era and time and place. Not to mention it has a built-in Shake-Shack and IMax theater.

National Museum of Natural History 

The one thing that will always make the Natural History Museum stand out is just the sheer amount of stuff it has to offer. From a large collection of taxidermied animals, to dinosaur skeletons, to wax sculptors of neanderthals, to mummies, to a giant elephant front and center, and even the Hope Diamond, there just seems to be no limit to what you can see. Now the café is just ok, but do you really come to the museum for overpriced food? One criticism I do have is that it does get awfully crowded, but that’s really the only bad thing I can say.

Conclusion/Honorable Mentions 

That’s the end of my Top 3. Some honorable mentions are: the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the National Museum of American History.